The body of a man discovered in St Margaret’s loch in Holyrood Park has been identified as the missing Sanjay Dhital.

Nepalese student, Dhital, 24, had been missing since Boxing Day and Lothian and Borders Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

The alarm had been raised by Dhital’s family in Kathmandu, Nepal, after he failed to contact them, which was out of character.

The grim discovery comes as the search continues for missing University of Stirling student David O’Halloran.

The Ayrshire 18-year-old, who is originally from Kilmaurs, is a first year Secondary Education with BSci Mathematics student at Stirling.

His disappearance came as a shock as family and friends said that it is completely out of character.

Local television channels have been reporting this story, highlighting the scale of the operation involved in finding him.

O’Halloran was last accounted for on 18 January on a night out with friends to the club, Dusk, in the city centre.

Friends then remembered seeing him get into a taxi outside the club assuming he was heading for his student flat at the university's halls of residence.

Central Scotland Police have confirmed that the taxi driver dropped off O'Halloran to his halls at round about 2am.

Chief Inspector Gordon Dawson said: "Although not exhaustive, we are concentrating the search in and around the university grounds, which is where David was last seen.

"We are also appealing to the public to check garden sheds and outhouses in the event David has taken shelter there.

"We are stopping motorists passing the area of the university and appeal for anyone who may have seen David or who knows where he is to contact us."

Inspector Dawson has assigned forty search trained officers to the case and also involved searchers from the Mountain Rescue and the International Rescue Corps in this enquiry.

Gravely concerned about his whereabouts, 20 staff members from Stirling University volunteered to assist with the search operation.

A university spokesperson said they were working with police “to make sure that whatever help they need they receive from us as a matter of priority.”

Central Scotland Police issued a statement which came to the public’s attention on Tuesday 29 January following the discovery of CCTV footage that captured O’Halloran in Bridge of Allan.

Inspector Pat Scroggie said: "We have CCTV in Bridge of Allan which shows David crossing Henderson Street, which is the main road, at 2.19am on Friday January 18. He is seen to then walk along the road in the direction of Keir Roundabout.”

With the new sighting of David has come a new wave of hope and so the investigation team has increased its size.

Inspector Scroogie added: "David may have appeared unsteady on his feet. We have carried out extensive searches in the grounds of Stirling University as well as gardens of residential houses in Bridge of Allan.

We are also using every available resource including Strathclyde helicopter, police dogs, specialist search officers, police officers and police divers.”

The police have said they believe David could be in a very vulnerable position.

Inspector Scroggie said: "We are extremely concerned for David as this is totally out of character for him. When he went missing the weather was extremely cold and it has remained wintery."

Since his disappearance, the public have reached out through social media sites in the hope of aiding the process of finding him.